On December 15th, 1864, the once powerful Confederate army in Tennessee was almost destroyed when a Union Battalion led by General George Thomas had swarmed the city of Nashville, Tennessee. This was one of two battles in Tennessee only 15 days apart from each other. The Confederate army suffered over 6,000 men killed/wounded, while the Union army suffered only a bit over 3,000 men killed/wounded. After the battle of Nashville, the Confederate army retreated back to Mississippi.
This Day in History by Gabbi McVey
Pearl Harbor: December 7th, 1941
Pearl Harbor was one of the worst bombings in U.S. history. The Japanese had planned this attack almost three months in advance, giving them the needed time to go on tourist planes that flew over Pearl Harbor, so they could take the pictures they had needed to see what they were going up against. Before they had attacked, they sent warnings to the government for seven days warning of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor.
When they did the attack, it was known as the Initial Attack, because they had used seven waves of 408 B-17 Bomber planes that carried Type 99 Anti-Ship Bombs that they had used to sink the USS Arizona. This attack had 2,403 US Soldiers and civilians as casualties, and to make the numbers worse there were 1,143 US Soldiers and civilians injured.
The Debate Over Confederate Monuments by Stella Gregor
In the 152 years since the Civil War ended, many monuments to honor people seen as heros were erected in both the north and the south. However, the pro-slavery views of most important figures who fought for the confederacy are considered extremely offensive and unacceptable today. This is why some people argue that monuments of southern historical figures such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson (Confederate Generals) and Jefferson Davis (president of the confederacy) should be removed from public areas.
The people that are in favor of the removal of Confederate monuments from public areas say that these statues send a message that slavery and human bondage are right. Because of this, these people feel that the monuments display skewed views of the Civil War and should not be displayed in public. Taking these statues down would send a message to the community (and nation) that people who supported the atrocities of slavery should not be honored.
The people that are against the removal of Confederate monuments from public areas argue that these are important historical figures who deserve to be recognized even if their actions and ideas are judged poorly by modern standards. Slavery is known as unjust and cruel today, but at the time of the Civil War, many people considered it to be fine and non problematic simply because it was what they had been taught.
As of today, some of these monuments have been taken down, some have had more detailed inscriptions of the people they portray added and others have been left as they are.
Sources:
https://upfront.scholastic.com/issues/2017-18/091817/monumental-battle.html#1170L
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/14/opinions/deciding-what-statues-can-stay-opinion-mcwhorter/index.html
Chickenosaurus by Marcus Henry
Ever think, Man, I wish I had a pet dinosaur? That would be so cool. Never thought that? Well, then it’s just me. But think about it. Wouldn’t it be really awesome? Sooner rather than later, it may actually be possible.
Jack Horner, a famous paleontologist, was looking to clone dinosaurs. He dug up dinosaurs, then had a friend of his look inside the bone. And then, she dunked it in acid and guess what was left? Blood vessels.
If you’ve read my other articles, you know that to clone or modify an animals through Genetic Engineering, you take the DNA and then modify it, or put it in another animal. And you can get DNA from blood vessels.
So he was extremely excited, but as hard as they tried, they couldn’t find any DNA. It turns out that DNA breaks down over time. But Jack Horner didn’t give up.
According to modern science, birds are dinosaurs. In fact, they are classified just the same, called Avian Dinosaurs and the ones who went extinct are called Non-Avian Dinosaurs. So they have a close relation. And he looked at a photo of a velociraptor hand and a photo of an Archaeopteryx hand. Both had fingers. But a pigeon wing didn’t.
Jack Horner and his friends found out that baby chickens still have fingers, until a gene kicks in which merges the fingers into a wing. And also, they found that chickens would have long tails as well, until a gene kicks in.
Currently, Horner and his friends are looking for those genes to turn them off, and develop a chicken with claws and a tail--the Chickenosaurus.
Want to watch it yourself? Watch at TED Talks
Drought Claims Crops and Lives: Rising temperatures in Southern Asia by Jane Bolton and Kiele Snyder
South Asia is home to 1.5 billion people, ⅕ of the world’s population. But, as wet-bulb temperatures, a mix of high temperatures and high humidity, increase, people may be forced to leave. Without making carbon emission cuts, the future will bring average increases of more than 4 degrees.
Muthu and her husband, Kumar, couldn’t afford to feed their son, Prabhu, much less themselves, so they sent him 200 miles away to work in the cotton mills.
“I always think about my family and want to go home.” says Prabhu.
At home, his parents struggle with crop failure due to the rising temperatures. They rely on the small pipe by their home that gives them enough water for an hour every other day. “With the little water available we just slightly wet our mouth and throat.” says Muthu.
Periyanayaki is facing similar troubles.
Her husband drunk pesticide after a rice crop failure, the result of the worst drought in a century. “I lost my husband’s life and the harvest.” says Periyanayaki.
The average suicides in India has risen by 67 per day and some believe that it is tied to crop failure and rising heat. But, the local government won’t help- they don’t believe that there is a connection between the suicides and drought- and so the families are left to fight for themselves.
With a recent crop failure, Muthu is drowning under loans that need repaying. Muthu says, “If I were to take out any more loans, the interest would grow, and my whole family would be forced to kill themselves.”
As temperatures in Southern Asia rise, people are facing severe droughts and heat waves. Like Periyanayaki, they’re losing their harvest and also their husbands. While we use water as if it were limitless, people in Southern Asia ration it carefully day by day. Water is a luxury they can’t afford to waste. The drought kills their crops and takes the lives of their family. They must decide whether to leave or stay. Staying is hard- they must face the lack of water and a many other challenges, but leaving is even harder. After all, how can you leave the place you’ve always called home?
Sources:
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/8/e1603322
This Day in History by Gabbie McVey
On this day, November 29th 1947, the United Nations voted, despite Arab Opposition, to partition Palestine and create an Independent Jewish State. Because of this, the Jewish population would take up over half of the entire state, even though the Jewish population was less than half of Palestine’s population. The voting of the U.N. had basically almost completely stopped the endless war of the Jewish and the Arab people.
Ross 128b by SIGURDUR RAGAN STEINSSON
Planet Profile: Ross 128b
Has anyone heard of Ross 128 b? Well, stay tuned to hear more about it. Ross 128 b is 11 light years away, just out of our solar system. It is about the size of Earth and is habitable. Yep, that’s right--life can grow on it!
Sadly, Ross 128 b is not the closest habitable planet. Proxima b is the closest but is less welcoming. Both orbiting “red dwarf” stars, where they have powerful periodic eruptions, Proxima is much more active, while Ross is much less active. The only problem is we don’t know the composition of the atmosphere; it could be friendly with water (like Earth) or as deadly and sterile as Venus. But unlike Proxima b Ross is not blasting itself with high doses of radiation...as much. It may be 20 times closer to the star it is orbiting, but its temperature is supposedly similar to ours because their “parent star” is much dimmer than ours.
F-18 Hornets Buzz Beaver Stadium by Gabby McVey
Fighter Jets over State College!
On November 10th, pilots of four F/A 18 Super Hornet Fighter Jets of the U.S. Navy did a “meet and greet” for the local Civil Air Patrol Squadron #338, also known as Nittany Composite Squadron 338. Two of the pilots were Penn State Graduates: Lieutenant Nate Shuey and Lieutenant Mike Webb.
The 3rd of the the 4-person squad was Alex Fletcher, a State High Graduate. Unfortunately due to mechanical malfunctions his jet had to have immediate mechanical work at the airport, causing him not be able to be the 4th jet as planned in the sky flying over the Beaver Stadium for the Veteran’s Day game versus Rutgers. Even with only three jets in the sky it was a remarkable thing to witness.
Do Colors Out Do Each Other? by Halle Rager
I personally love quotes or little phrases. I thought I was being all original when I wrote down in a journal, ‘How Come Dark Colors Out Do Light Colors?’
Apparently I was wrong because when I showed my mom the quote she was able to quickly respond with, “Some people say light colors out do dark colors.” I couldn't see this how this was possible without them being colorblind. Which I wasn’t even positive about how colorblindness works.
Then I realized I was looking at it all wrong. People associate dark colors with dark emotions and light colors with bright emotions.
But.. no one can be bright and happy all the time, same thing with dark emotions, no one can be miserable all the time. So I still didn’t have an answer until I realized dark emotions kill..
In since I got that cleared up I also realized another thing, dark colors hold other emotions other than misery. Red holds love, passion, intensity, energy, and excitement. Orange holds determination, warmth, success, and flamboyance. Blue holds uniqueness, peace, authentic and enthusiasm. Lastly, purple holds wealth, mysteries, magic, creativity, and spirituality. In conclusion it holds happy emotions as well.
How come we were taught that dark things were bad, and that light things were good? How come we never decide to go into deeper meaning of things?
Now some people are like well villains in fairy tales and superhero stuff are associated with dark things, and they are bad. Which is correct, but most villains are misunderstood.
People don’t go deeper into things. We probably never will. But the people who do achieve great things. Scientist, therapist, musicians, people of the world.
And it all can start with one simple thing.
Like questioning the world.
How come dark colors out do light colors?
This Day in History: November 15th, 1943 by Gabby McVey
November 15th, 1943
Leonard Bernstein’s Philharmonic Debut makes Front Pages because he had been an unknown 25 year-old who stepped in for Bruno Walter when he was ill and couldn’t be able to lead one of the largest Orchestral Concerts broadcasted live at a Carnegie Hall Concert.
The New York Times had said for their Headline that week: “Young Aide Leads Philharmonic, Steps In When Bruno Walter Was Ill.”
Thanks to this Philharmonic Debut, he is now known across the country for his brilliant performance at the Carnegie Hall Concert.